Matrix for the production of printing-plates.



G. J. MAGARTHUR. MATRIX FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PRINTING PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED MALI, 1913.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 0:. J. MAGARTHUR. MATRIX FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PRINTING PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 1-, 1913. 1, 1 28,022. Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

2 I rrllv r 39 mg CHARLES J.

MACABTHUR, OF NEWARK, NEW

JERSEY.

MATBLX FOR- THE PRODUCTION OF PRINTING-PLATES.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented Feb. 9, i

Application filed March 1, 1913. Serial No. 751,586.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES J. MACAR- THUR, a citizen of. the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in.

Matrices for the Production of Printing.- l lates, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to an im proved matrix for the production of a printing plate, an improved plate for producing such matrices, and to the method or process of making the matrices and plate.

The invention has for its main object the formation of a matrix and a master plate, from which master plate any number of matrices may subsequently be produced, the printing plates in turn being produced from the matrices thus formed. The printing face of said plates exhibits a finished surface having'such relatively raised and dcpressed portions, sections or lincsas are necessary and desirable to produce a picture (or imprint) displaying solids, half-tones or middle lighcs, and high lights.

Stated in general terms, the process is carried out in the following manner: Upon the rear face of a copper plate, having upon its front, say, a picture produced by any desired process, there is mounted a print or proof of such picture. Upon such print or proof there is mounted a suitable underlay, the sections where the solidsin the ultimate picture are to appear being built up to the greatest extent, somewhat lower for the half or middle tones, and not at all for the highlight sections. A marginal strip, of a height equal to the highest point In the underlay, or make-ready, will also be placedall around the plate upon its back, adjacent its edge, forming a continuous strip or band. The built-up marginal portion or strip may be termed a controlling bearer, and serves to prevent the plate from tilting. when subjected to pressure against a lead sheet, as would otherwise sometimes occur, owing to the different gradations in the on derlay bcneath the ditlerent portions or sections of the plate, and particularly where they are materially thicker at one end of the plate than at the other. The face of the plate preferably has formed in 1t, ad acent its edge, but within the confines of said strip or hand, a groove or channel. It is conceivable and, in fact, found entirely practicable iirpractice to employ separate strips of athickness exactly equal to the thickness of the plate ad acent the ends and sides of the plate, instead of buildin i" up the underlay around the margin of z nc plate, as just descihed, and to secure to such. strips of underlay equal in th ckness to the greatest height or thickness of the underlay applied to the plate. 01 strips of a thickness equal to the conjoint thickness of the plate and the maximum thickness of the underlay may be used as the controlling bearers. The plate thus treated and provided with the controlling bearer, however formed, has superposed uporiit a, lead sheet and the two are then placed with in a suitable press and subjected to pressure. Such pressure tends to deform the copper plate, forcing out those fiortions upon which the make-ready or underlay has been placed and likewise the margin of the plate beneath the controlling bearer or bearers aforesaid. Naturally, the in the plate will likewise be displaced or caused o flow, thereby producing in suchlead plate an intaglio oi the plate, or a matrix having the exact design in every particular displayed by the plate. Suchunatrix is employed to produce, preferably by elcctrodeposition, the face of the printing-plate. The face will, of course, he backed by suitable metal and planed to plate-thickness. The copper plate formed during the above steps may'be employed to produce other matrices, or if desired be used as a printing surface.

In order that the invention may be readily understood in all the steps, a detailed description will be given, reference being had to they annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a face view, of the original copper plate. having the picture appearing thereon; Fig. 2 a sectional view, on the line. 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a rear view of the plate with the underlay or make-ready ap plied thereto; Fig. 4 a sectional view, on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 a sectional view, showing the plate with its attached underlay or make-ready and the matrix sheet positioned upon the press-bed; Fig. 6 a similar view illustrating the action which takes place after the parts have been subjected to pressure; Fig. 7 a sectional view of the completed matrix; Fig. 8 a like view ot the original copper plate; Fig. 9 a sectional view of a hacked plate produced 1; the

matrix; and Fig. 10 a sectional view of the finished plate.

It will, of course, be understood that in the various sectional views the parts are con 5 siderably enlarged, this being necessary in order to fully illustrate the invention.

In the drawings, 1 denotes the original copper plate, having produced thereon a picture or design by any desired process. A

continuous groove or channel 2 is formed in the face of the plate, a slight distance from its edge, producing a rim 3. Upon the rear of the plate there will be secured a sheet 4, having imprinted thereon a duplicate of the picture which appears upon the face of the plate, said imprint serving as a guide or index for the proper positioning of the make ready or underlay. Such imprint should be of the same size as the plate, showing a printed band where the rim 3 appears. Around the margin of the plate, over the rim 3, there will be placed a number of superposed pieces as 5, 6 and 7, equal in height to the highest point of the underlay or makeready, which is placed upon the picture or design. One piece of such underlay is designated by 8, and in Fig. 3, is shown as provided with a series of vertical slits 9, which when the plate is pressed into the lead to produce the matrix, will permit those portions of the plate ,which are beneath the same to remain in their normal plane, or in other words, such sections will not be pressed forward into the lead. Such unpressed or unprotruded sections will, of course, print or appear as high lights in the ultimate picture as, for instance, the ertically-dis- ,posed blanks or lines 10, Fig. 1.

Superposed upon sheet 8 is an,' underlay 40 11, having slits 12 cut therein, see Fig. 3, which act to produce the highlights in the drapery of the skirt. An additional underlay 13 may be placed over the shoulder and arm of the figure, and provided with cutaway portions, as at 14;. and 15, which openings may or may not, as desired, extend down through the underlay 1]. Relatively heavy under-lays will be provided at the top of the head, as at 16, and so with the arms,

while the part where the shadow of the arms falls will have an underlay of less .hcight. So, too, any portion of the plate which is to be thrown forwardly will be backed up, as will be readily. understood by those skilled in the art, the highlight portions being unbacked. By the use of the printed band appearing on the sheet 4 the designer is enabled to employ the same as a means for securing correct registr of the underlay. The plate thus built up is placed upon a fixed unyielding bed or platen of a press, such as an Albert press, with the taglio of the face of the copper plate.

7 ung upon the platen. Thereis' sure, which has the effect of deforming the copper plate in the manner shown in Fig. 6, and at the same time producing in the adjacent face of the lead plate an exact indaid lead plate 17, which in fact is the matrix, is shown in Fig. 7, while the copper plate 1 is shown in Fig. 8, stripped of all its underlay. As before noted, undcrlays 5, 6 and 7 are of a height equal to the highest portion of any other underlay on the plate and when the plate is subjected to pressure the outer marginal section or rim 3 is thro'-. vn upwardly and acts as a stop or limit to the action of the pressure, said rim, as will be noted upon an inspection of Fig. 8, standing as high as any other portion of the plate. In other words, the rim becomes a bearer and controls the height to which any other portion of the plate may be pushed forward.

From the matrix a printing plate is produced. The skin 18, Figs. 9 and l0,'of such plate is preferably formed by electro'depcsition of any suitable substance upon the face of the matrix, said skin being subsequently backed with electrotypers metal 19 and planed ol'l", is usual, the finished plate being shown in Fig. 10. As will be noted, the plate presents a surface in which those parts which are to print solid stand the highest,

the half-tone sections somewhat lower, and the high-light the lowest of all. Any number of matrices may be produced from the original copper plate with its attached underlays.

. It is,-of course, to be understood that the annexed drawings are merely illustrative and that any design, no matter how line, may be reproduced in the matrix, with the various portions of the design thrown into the proper and desired relief, according to the dictates of the designer.

At noted at the outset, it is not essential that the controlling bearer (or bearers) be formed as an integral portion of the plate, for such bearers may be separately formed, and in fact used with plates which have been previously formed and from which the margin has been trimmed off. Such separate strips of metal are placed around the plate and are, of course, of a thickness exactl y equal to that of the plate itself, or of the plate with its maximum number of attached underlays. A matrix produced in lead from the plate-and controlling bearer strips will show the impression of these bearer strips, and when the copper is deposited on the face of the matrix it will likewise be deposited upon or in the depressions formed by the strips;'consequently, the copper plate thus produced will have a margin around the same of a height equal to the highest point on the plate. This margin then acts as a protector for the completed plate when the back is being planedoil. holding the plate level and to a certain extent controlling the depth to which the planing" ltniic will cut. After the plate. thus finished, the extra metal around the magin is trimmed a at.

In practice it has been found that plates produced by the use of the controlling hearir, be it continuous or formed in sccthins. are ol uniform height and will print uniformity. so that the employment of oven law or packing tor the form is unnecessary.

llra ring thus described my invention,what l claim is:

A matrix from illt'll a printingrpiate he pmdured comprising a hotly oi meial ha ing impressed in and upon its Eur-- fare the design desired to be reproduced, v. iii: those. portions of the design which are to print solid in half-tone, and in highlight in the plate to be produced from the matrix imprcr' ed iroportionately deeper, from a greater to a less extent.

L. It matrix from which a printing-plate may lh' produced, comprising a body of metal harin impressed in and upon it surare by pressure and consequent displacenuut or How of the metal, the design desired to be reproduced, the displacement. beiny deepest where that portion of the plat-e to he termed prints solid, and less deep Wliilt, ii prints llilildODQS.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a, matrix from rhirh a printingplate may be produced. l'oriried of metal which ill low under presaure and having imprcseed in its face an intaglio ol' the design to be reproductal. said intaglio ha ing graded depths.

l. its a lit article of manufacture, a matrix from nhich a printing plate may be produced, said matrix being made of a metal which will lion: under pressure and having iniposwg-d in its face an intaglio of the design to be reproduced, said intaglio having graded depths, the matrix likewise having depressions termed adjacent its edges of a depth ;-aihstantially equal to the depth of greatest depression in the intaglio de- The roccss of n'odueing a matrix for he production ot a printing-plate, which wa sts in h; clung up a plate having a den upon ill\ printing surface, with undera vs oi (l ttering heights; imposing a body of yielding metal against the design face in the nod; yin ling: i .l.

*i 1- 1; ti W i? nariikic tor the production of a printing-plate, which consists in lormii g a groom or channel ad iaccnt to the nine of a plate and upon that face which. has the design or picture produced, thereon: securing upo'n the rear l'ace of the plate a in int of such design: mountinc a niahe-ra-ady or "uudcrla f upon such print and at such points or places as it is designed to protrude the lace oi the plate to produce solids and halt-tones the underlay being highest over the solids"; likewise mounting around the edge of the print and orer the marginal porti n oi the plate a mahe-rmuly of a height equal or substantially. equal to the highest point in the make-ready positioned on the body of the print; imposing: the face of the plate upon a body of metal which will flow under prc'sure; and linaily subjecting the pa; More, and tlierehv cans ing those portimia or the face of the plate which are aelted hy'the underlay to he protruded or thrown f rwardly out ot' the primary plane of the plate, and also causing the margin of the plate to be likewise protruded, and :lllllllttliltOliSl)lfllCC such protruded portions into the face of the body of metal, hereby an intaglio of the newlyfol med face of the plate u ill be produced in the body of yielding metal.

T. The pro ess of producing a matrix for the prmluctionad a printii'ig-plale, which consists in placing the design face oi a plainbacl; plate against a body of metal which will flow under pressure. and forcing the plate agaiuj t Hui-h body to produce an intaglio of the design and likewise subjecting certain predetermined portions oi the back of the plate to such pressure as will deform or protrude such portions of the face of the plate beyond the normal plane of the face and force such protruded portions correspondingly deeper into the body of metal.

8. The process of producing a matrix for the prmluction ot,a printing-plate, which consists in placing, the design have of a plate ol' metal ha ring a plain back and a design i'ace agaimt a body of metal which will flow under pressure. the design lying next to the l'hitl); im rcssing the design as a Whole into said, body; and likewise protruding or |)l'(rlttitlll;{ those portions of the plate which should print solid and i1 halftone's forwardly beyondthe normal plane of the face of the plate and mrrespondingly deeper into the body of metal.

9. The process of proi'lucing' a matrix For the production of a printing-plate, which consists in forming a. groove adjacent to the edge of a plate of metal and upon that face thereof which bears the design to be reproduced; imposing such face upon a body of metal which will flow under pressure; placing an underlay upon the hack of the plate mar those portions of the design Where the 1 face of the plate is to be protruded; placing an underlay under the rim portion of the plate formed by the groove, said underlay being of a height equal or substantially equal to the highest portion of the design underlay; and finally subjecting the parts to pressure.

10. The process of producing a matrix for the formation of a printing-plate, which consists in forming a bearer rim around a plate having a design upon its face; imposing said plate upon a body of metal which will flow under pressure; and finally protruding said rim, and those portions of the design which are to print solid and in half-tone, into said body, the rim being protruded to an extent equal or substantially so to the greatest protrusion of any other portion of the plate.

11. The process of producing a matrix for the formation of a printing-plate, which consists in placing a plate of metal having a design thereon against a, body of metal which will flow under pressure, the design lying next to the body; impressing the de- Sign into said body and likewise protruding or projecting those portions of the plate which should print solid and in halttones forwardly beyond the normal face of the plate and correspondingly deeper into the body of metal; and simultaneously protruding a rim adjacent the edge of the plate of a height equal or substantially equal to the highest protruded portion of the body of the plate.

12. The process of producing a plate for the production of matrices from which similar printing-plates may be formed, which consists in placing upon the back of a plate having a design upon its face an underlay, 01' make-ready conforming in outline to the parts which are to be forced outwardly; forming a controlling bearer around the plate, said bearer being of a thickness equal or substantially so to the greatest thickness of the underlay; imposing against the design face of the plate and the controlling bearer a body of metal which will flow under pressure; and finally subjecting the parts to pressure.

13. The process of producing a plate for the production of matrices from which similar printing-plates may be formed, which consists in placing upon the back of a plate having a design upon the face an underlay or make-ready conforming in outline to the parts which are to be forced outwardly; forming a controlling or bearer rim around the margin of said plate, said rim being of a thickness equal or substantially Soto the joint thickness of the plate and the maximum underlay; imposing against the design face of the plate and the rim a body of metal. which will liow Ullih-l' lil'lrydll'tt; and linally subjecting the parts to pressure.

1- The process of producing a matrix for the "orniation of printing-plaies, which con sists in foicing or protruding the face of a plate having a picture or design thereon. and a rim or controlling bearer surrounding said picture. into a body of metal whicl'i will flow under pressure, the rim being evenly project/ed or protruded throughout and to an cxtrntequal or substziintially so to the greatest protrusion ,cil'ected by the face of the plate.

1.7. The'process of producing a matrix for the formation of printingplates, which consists in forcing to graded depths, the face of a plate having a picture or design thereon, and likewise forcing a rim or controlling bearer surrounding the picture, into a body ofmetal which will flow under pressure, the rim being evenly projected throughout into the metal and to an extent equal or substantially so to the greatest protrusion effected by the face of the plate 16. The process of producing a matrix for the formation of printing-plates. which COIR' sists in forcing as a whole the face of a plate having a picture or design thereon, and certain selected portions of said face to a greater extent than others, into a body of metal which will flow under pressure, and simultaneously therewith forcing a rim or controlling barer surrounding the picture into the metal body to an extent equal or substantially so to the greatest protrusion ell'ected by the face of the plate.

17. The process of producing a matrix for the formation of a printing plate, which consists in forming a bearer rim upon a plate baring a design upon its face; imposing said plate upon a body of metal which will llow under pre sure; and finally protruding said rim and those portions of the design which are to print solid and in half-tone into said body.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES J. MACARTIIUR.

Witnesses EDWIN GREENE, BERNARD A. I)UFFY. 

